Apparatus for manufacturing lithopone



J. A. SINGMASTER ANU F. GA BRhYER.

APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING LH'HUPONE.

APPLICATN FILED AUG.14| H320,

n@ .Bm 1M 2. w

wn ,n

,n e f M W WS 1U a w AM Am i. nu

J. A. SNGMASTER AND F. G. BREYER.

AFPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURXNG LITHOPONE.

APPLICAHON FILED AUG.I4.1920.

1,41 1,647. Patented Apr. 4, 1922.

Htk S-SHEEI 2.

mn*u 'i l i 4f a? 9 l .3f

@noe/whom a. s L

J. A. SINGIVIASTER AND F. G. BREYER.

APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING LITHGPONE.

Patented Apr. 4, 1922 J. A. SINGMASTER AND F. G. BHEYIEH.` APPARATUS Foa MANUFACTURING LHHUPONE.

APPLxcAIIoN man Au.14.i92o.

Patented Apr. 4, 1922.

SHkLIS-SHEET 5.

311mm tous M., a Swufhl @13 #ma www@ J. A. SINGMASTER AND F. G. BREYER.

APPARATMS FUR MANUFACTURING LITHOPONE. AiPLicATroN min Aus. x4, w20.

1,41 1?.,647. Patented A111'. 4, 1922.

Y Snam/whom J. A. SlNGMASTI-IH AND F. G. BREYER. APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING LITHOPUNE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.I4,1920

Patented Apr. 4, 1922.

JSHLtlS-*SHEEI l.

f -uan-eo srA'ras PATENT OFFICE.

RATION 0F NEW JERSEY.

PALMERTON, PENNSYLVANIA, GF NEW YORK, N. Y., A GORP@-l APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING LITHOPONE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

rat-enten Apr. 4, 1922.

Application led August 14, 1920. Serial No. 403,525.

T o all lwhom it 'may concern Be it known that we, JAMES A. SiNoMAs'rEa and FRANK G. BREYER, residing at Palmerton, county of Carbon, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Manufacturing Lithopone; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to the manufacture of lithopone and has for its object the rovision of an improved apparatus for mailling lithopone.

In themanufacture of lithopone, the precipitate of zinc sulphite and barium sulphate resulting from the interaction of solutions of zinc sulphate and barium sulphide is filter-pressed and, after appropriate drying, is heated or muffled and the hot product plunged directly from the heating chamber into cold water. It has heretofore been customary, in actual practice. to carry out the mutlhng of the raw or crude lithopone in horizontal inutiles, and to this end a layer of crude lithopone is charged on to the bottom of the mulile and heated, usually t0 a dull red heat. In the usual muliiing operation, that portion of the lithopone lying on the highly heated bottom of the Inutile is liable to be overheated, while other portions of the charge may not be sufficiently heated. An attempt is made to avoid the effect of this non-uniformity of heating by stirringl the material from time to time.r This is only a partial remedy, entails the use of skilled labor, and increases the difficulty of maintaining the proper atmosphere in the muflie.

The necessity of a proper atmosphere protecting the lithopone from oxidizing influences duringr the mullling operation has heretofore been recognized and, in certain cases. it has been customary te introduce a neutral or reducing gas, such, for example, as steam or producer gas, intothe Inutile, so as to maintain a neutral or reducing atmosphere above the charge and prevent the ingress of air.

As heretofore generally piacticetl. the mutlling of lithopone has been an intermittent o eration. The crude lthopone is charged into the Inutile through a charging door, and after the completion of the muffhng the hot product is manually Withdrawn from the inutile into a body of cold water, and thereupon a nen7 charge is put into the mullie. charging operations, the temperature of the Inutile necessarily falls, and some time'is required to bring a fresh charge to the de-` sired muflling temperature.` Moreover, vthis mtermittent operation is wasteful .of heat. In addition, the amount of lithopone which .can be effectively treated at one operation 1s smaller than the cubic-al capacity of the inutile; or, in other words, the depth of the charge in the muflle is kept relatively small compared with the vertical .height of the mulile in an attempt to out down as much as possible overheating or underheating of portions offthe material. This means a relatively large spaee in the mullie above the charge, yvith the attendant difficulties of maintalmng non-oxidizing gases therein and excluding the air therefrom.

In the copending application of Breyer, Croll and Farber, Serial No. 327,921, filed October 2, 1919, the .existence of critical muiling ,temperatures for lithopones of given properties is, as far as we are aware, recognized for the first time. The vital importance of controlled and uniform'heating for the production of such superior lithopones is set forth in this application, and the present invention contemplates in particular the provision of an improved apparatus for the muttling of lithopone in a uniform and controlled manner. At the same time, the apparatus of the invention enables lithopone to be muiiled by a practically continuous and automatic operation. In our eopending application, Serial No. 342.523, filed December 4, 1919, we. have described and claimed an improved method of muliling lithopone.v and the present invention is particularly directed to the provision of an apling described and claimed in that application.

The apparatus of the invention comprises a vertically disposed and externallyr heated retort or mutlie of appropriate proportions for uniformly heating the lithopone as the latter is progressively passed ti'!eretlir n1gli. Preferably, the action of gravity is relied upon for effecting the passage of the litho- During the charging and dis.

`paratus for carrying out the method of muf- VivvlichV the material pes by gravity with little or no agitation, there is a relationship between the cross' section end length of the m, i emplojed `Whi'sh cannot be exceededithoutiproducing a non-unifoim inutile rodilct. VV` VWe believe that the carthe in such a rouille t0 the conte t the li'iolumn is `laiggieljf due to' Iits bef" 'by the rising gases reeent, `inf; rect conduction. I hen the cro' unduly increased,lwe believe f f the ,gases tak'place with iformit of the muled idofinotzwisfto restrict ourtli 4length andtrielve inches in diam-V a perooptibly non-uniform mufed ro p Itis our present preferred practice to employ in the improved apparatus of the invention a verticali disposed cylindrical retort or inutile me. e of iron, or other good heat conducting material, of about ten inchesl in diemeter 4und about twenty-five feet in length. If desi'red,` the cylindrical retort may be of tapered section, vfor example, the retort may have intermediate its ends a portion whose diametenprogressively increases from the top towards the bottom. Such a tapered section assists, to some extent, the ready assage by gravity of the lithopone throu v, the retort,

The foregoing and other novel features of ourlimproved apparatus for mui'lling lithopone will be betten understood from the following descriptiolitaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawins, in which:

Fig.-1 is an end elevation o a structure accommodation of a lithoembodying the designed for the. pone muilling apparatus principles of the invention;

Fig. 2 n. sectional elevation of the muflng apparatus;

Fig'. 3 is a sectional plan taken on thc section line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is n sectional plan taken on the section line 4--4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is n sectional elevation taken on the .section line 55` of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation taken on the section line (i-G ot' Fig. il;

Figs. 7 and 8 are elevation: of rctorts of tapered section: i

Fig. 9 is :x sectional ond elevation of the lmmrjend of n retort and the associated :ip-

altiieulghitlilw'eppears" flue i6 for heatingr frases.

peratns and is taken on the section line 9-9 of F ig. l1; V

Fig. 10 is a sectional side elevation of the lower end of a retort and the associated ap paratus and is tellen along the section line 1o1o of Fig. 11;

Fig. 11 is a? sectional plan taken on the section line 11-11 of. Fi 10; and

Fig, ms a detail exp anatory view.

In the a paratus illustrated in the accorcpanyi rawings a pluralit of vertically dis i t: -l netorts are operative y combined in onefurnace unit. Thuspin the drawings, the four vertically disposed retorts 15 are combinedjin aV single furnace unit. If delwced-side by side, but in' the drawings we ave illustrated, for convelence', only a i single furnace unit. It will, of course, be ,understood that vthe principles of the invention may be satisfactorily embodied in a furnace having only a single.retort, and we have, in fact, secured very` excellent results with a single retort furnace of this type.

The retorts or mnilles 15 may conveniently be made of a cylindrical ipe of wrought iron or extra heavy steel. 'Fhediameter and length of the pipe should beappropriately proportioned to insure uniform heating of the lithopone for the necessari,1 period o time. We have secured excellent results with a wrought iron pipe ten inches in diameter and from twenty-live to thirty feet in length. Y

The cylindrical retort may be of uniform diameter throughout, or, if desired, may be tapered in cross section. In Fig. 7, the up per section a is of uniform diameter (say nine inches) the intermediate section` b (of aliut 'twelve feet in length) is of tapered sootiorilwith the diameter rogressively increasingfrom the top towar s the bottom (for example, from nine inches to ten inches) while the lower section c (of about twofeet in length)- has a uniform diameter (for example, ten inches). In Fig. 8 the upper section d (say six feet in length) isof uniform diameter (for example, eight inches); the intermediate section e (sity twelve feet in length) is tapered (say from eight to nine inches in diameter); While the lower section f (say twelve feet .in length) is also of tapered section (for example. from nine to ten inches in diameter). The specific constructions illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8 are given merely bywiiy ofexample, and it will be evident to thoae'skilled in the art that the desired tapered section, when employed, may he secured in various .ways

Each of the) retorts l5 is surrounded h v a v The four retorts with their conperatin'g lnee of the furnuccunit are combined in a unitary furnace strinzture. It will br understood, however,

(about sixteen feet inlength) 1 sized, a plurality of furnace units ma)y be A that each retort has a separate and independent flue surrounding it, so that. in effort, there are four independent and individual retorts. each with its own individual ext/ernal heating means, combined in each 'furnace unit. The brickwork of the furnace may advantageously consist of inner walls of tire brick 17 and outer walls of red brick 18. A. space .is preferably left between the lire brick walls 17 and the exterior red brick Walls 18, and this space may advantageously be lilled with heat-resisting and insulating material 19, such, for example, as powdered sil-ooel or si1-o-cel brick.

The retorts 15 extend an appropriate distance above and beneath the furnace structure, but are otherwise surrounded throughout substantially their entire length by the (fo-operating flues 16. A. port 2t) is opera4 tively associated with each flue 16 and serves to conduct hea-ting gases to the lower end ol' the fluo. The ports 2t) are independent ot' one another and each is provided with an ioi'lelnnidently controlled damper 21.. In the drawings. this damper is shown as a slab ot lire hair-li or other appropriate refractory` material which is vertically adjustable in the port an so as to `tary the effective openiner ot' the port. The dampen; 2l may conv venenily he adjusted by means olt independcnt cables and room-ratingr counterweights Each flue lll near its top.` communicates with a stark 2t for carrying away the er haust heatinpr gases from the flue. Each stack is provided with a valve or damper for controlling;r the draft thereof. All of the dalnpers ere arranged to be adjusted from the ri-tort charging lloor by means ot' cailles 2G.

The four retorts ot each furnace unit have. a common combustion chamber Z7 for the combustion of fuel and the generation of hot products of combustion for the supply of heating to 'he four fines 1G. represented 'in the drawings. the combustion chamber has a grate 28 suitable for the hnrnA ing' of coal and is provided with pair ol' charging doors 2f). llor heating Your retorts of the dimensions hereinln-lore inentioned. we have found a grate of about seven feet in width and about six feci in length or depth to provide a satisfactory grate arca when burnin;r fine coal, say, for example, No. 2 or 3 huckwhcat. An air com partment 30 is provided beneath the grate QH and is arranged to be supplied with air under appropriate iressnre from an air snp-- ply.r pipe Ill. This air supply may be ap pro'niatcly regulated by means of a damper 32. The air conqiartnlent 2li! also servos es an ash pit tor the ashes and rinden-s falling through the grato QS, and a pair ol' doorsy 33 are provided l'or removing ashes and ein ders from the ronipartxnifut Sill.

The combustion chamber 2T terminates at its rear in a vertical passage 34 which communicatcs with the lower end of a heat equalizing chamber. The heat eqnalizingg Chamber has a manifold or compartment 35 at its lower end which is in free communica tion throughout its entire width with the passage 34. Above the manifold 3f. the equalizing chamber is provided with a plurality of spaced arches 36 upon which are supported slabs 37 of lire brick or other ap propriate refractory material. The vertically disposed slabs 37 are Separated and spaced a art b blocks 3H of refractory ma terial. he sla s 3T terminate at their upper ends substantially at the lower level of the ports 20, so that above the slabs 37 there is a manifold or compartment 38 with which the ports 20 communicate.

`The vertically disposed slabs 37 provide a plurality of vertical passages 39 of relatively large surface area. T has, in a fur nace of the dimensions hereinbefore naar tioned.y the passages 30 may be. about thrcr feet in length and about feet in height. and the. distance between the slabs 3T may advantageously be about nine inches. The slab 3T, which may be from 4 5 inches in thickness. together with the interior Walls of the equaliaing chamber, provide a considerable mass of refractory material, thus providing within the equalizer a heat reservoir of considerable heat storage capacity.

The hot products of combustion pass from the chamber 27 down the passage 34 into the manifold 35 and upwardly through the vertical passagcs 39 intp the manifold or distributor 38' from whence they flow into the ports 2li which are provided for independently supplying the healing gases to the thu-s 1G. llaiiles (39 are preferably placed in the ports 20 in advance of the retorts 1 6 so as to protect the retorts from the direct blast of the incoming heating gases and so as to deflect and distrilme these gases about the rotor-ts. The heat eqnalizing chamber serves to overcome or compensate for such slight variations in the temperature of the products of combustion as necessarily oci-nr in practice. Thus, the equalizingf chamber has a plurality of passages ot relatively large surface area, and has considerable heat storage capacity. By these agencies. slight rari-ations in temperature of the products of coi'nlnistion are effectively neutralized in the equalizer. so that the heating: gases delivered to the tlucs 16 are of substantially uniform temperature and prartically independent of the slight fluctuations in temperature which the hot products of com #listino undergo.

The loner end of each retort l5 is provided with an appropriate discharging derirf. The ronstrurtion and operation olthe Vlie-foaming devil-e ot' the furnace illustrated fold fu" carrying a suspended mono-rail GS. .t crane or other appropriate elevating and transferruuf mechanism unav he appropriately mounted on the rail 6H mld van be moved the entire length ot' the Vfurnace house for reina-ving worn out or defertive retolts and replacing the. saine with new retorts.

For the salie ot simplicity. the charging hopper has heen omitted in Fig 2 of the drawings. and in Figs. 2. 5 andY (i the discharge invites for the retorts have heen omitted. li, will lie ii:i.ieisto i l that the furnace structure as Well as the furnace house have appu'opriate supporting steel structures which have hren generally indicated in the drawings hut are not specifiraliy descriiied, since the general construction of the saine will be understood by those skilled in the art.

In the normal operation ol the apparatus illustrated in the drawings. the retorts 'l5 are iled with the crude and dried (or par tially dried) lithopone. The crude lithopone. as it is charged into the top ol the retorts. is generell in the form of small lumps and the spaces lisitween these lumps, during the mulling oipieration. are vfilled with the gases evolred trom the lithopoue at the mailling temperature, so that the litho ione within the retort. dering the entire mu ing operation, is surrounded hy a nouwoxidizing atmosphere composed. for the most part, ,of hot water vapor. The driven olf from the litho pone during the :nothing operation escape through the open top of the retort. The amount of these gases and the design of 'the retort are such that there is maintained within the retort, and more especially' in the active mutiiing zone thereof. a gaseous pressure slighti'v greater than atmospheric pressure Wherch the entr-anco of' air into the retort is eii'ectively prevented.

in the upper part of the retort the incoming litliopone is subjected to the hot gases escaping from the active mulling one of the retort. These hot gases serve to dry and prehcat the litiiopone, and more partirulany they serve to drive ell' from the incoming lithopone any orcluded or en trained air. so that when the litliopone reaches the active riuflling zone practically all of the air entr-allied in the original raw lithoponelhns neen eliminated. This insures the mulling of the litho )one .under the desired nou-oxidizing condition. As the result of this preheating stage in our mailling operation. we are able tu feed into the retort a. lithopone containing more moisture than has heretofore been possible in the usual lithopone muliilea. For this reason, when mutlling in accordance with our present inrention, the lithopone need not be dried ,as thoroughly or as carefully as has heretofore been necessary. After filter-pressing, the crude lithopone m'dinarily contains about 50%` of moisture. It has heretofore heen customary to dry the lithopone until its molsture content was reduced to about 1 or 2%. Then mullling in accordance with our present invention. it is only necessary to dry the crude lithopone until lts moisture content is about Ulf-Tfr, thereby materially reducing the cost of drying.

During the mullin operation, the lithopone is maintained 1n the active mulr'l'ing zone of the retort at an appropriate mullling temperature for thc necessary period of time to secure the desired degree of strength, color and brightness. To have found that excellent results may be obtained when the rate of discharging and charging of the retort. is so proportioned that a eriod of from about 5 to 10 hours is require for the lithopone to travel from the top of the retort to the bottom thereof, during which period the lithopone is subjected to a. temperature of from about 550 to 8009 C., depending upon the nature of the crude material and the properties desired in the finished product.

The muled lithopone, as will be under stood by those skilled in the art, is removed from the water in the tubs 54 and subjected to further treatment, such as washing, grinding and drying, substantially in accordance with the present ractice.

We have foun( that lithopone, muled in accordance with the invention, possesses marked superior properties over lithopone heated in ordinary inutiles in accordance with the heretofore customary practice. In particular, we have found that lithopone caleined in accordance with the invention is remarkably resistant to deterioration from sunlight. In other words, the muffling operation of the invention results in the producI tion of a superior product having improved light-resisting pro orties.

The apparatus illustrated in the accompanying drawings represents our preferred construction, but it will, of course, be understood that the apparatus is susceptible of many modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention. In principle, the apparatus of the invention comprises a con tinuously operated vertical retort or mutlle open at the top for the escape of gases and sealed, when desired,` at the bottom to prevent the entrance of air into the retort. Va rious expedicnts may be employed for sealing the bottom of the retort, and likewise the desired o )ening at the top of the retort may take di erent forms. the opening` at the top of the retort, it 1s only necessary to provide an escape for the gases resulting from the muhng operation at such a rate that Within the active mullmg zone of the retort there is maintained a gaseous pressure slightly in excess of the atmos heric pressure.

T e construction of the retorts 15 of metal,

Vlith respect t0 im h2 umh- 1 A prin twelve ine-hes anni 13.15 retm being t ef ternally heaize lm-a i'etart of iron,

said retort being at @215i twentyive feci in length mail having niarmedlate iis Chargi each of said retorts, a common source of hot products of combustion for supplying heat in'g gases to all of said l'lues, and an individual stack operatively associated with cach of said fines for carrying away the exhaust heating gases.

l2, An apparatus for inullling lithopone. comprising a plurality of vertically disposed retorts. a flue for heating gases surrounding each of said retorts, a stack operatively associated with each of said fines for carrying' away the exhaust heating gases, means associated with each of said stacks for independently cont-rolling the draft thereof, and a common source of hot products of combustion for supplying heating gases to all o said flues.

13. An apparatus for Inuflling lithopone, comprising a plurality of vertically disposed retorts, a flue for heating gases surrounding each of said retorts, a common source of hot products of combustion for supplying heating gases to all of said flues. means opera tively associated with each of said lucs for independently controlling the supply of heating gases to any one of said tlues. und means operatively associated with each of said fines for independently controlling the exhaust of heating1r gases from any one of said dues.

let. An apparatus for mutlling lithopone, comprising a plurality of vertically disposed retorts. a flue for heating gases surrou ling cach of said retorts, a common source hot products of combustion for supplying Y.heatingr gases to all of said retorts, a heat equal izing chamber provided with a plurality of vertical passages formed by heat refraictory material. a lower manifold comrmniicating` with said combustion chamber and in which the lower ends of all of Said vertical pasv sages terminate. an upper manifold in which the upper ends of all of said vertical passages terminate. a port connecting the lower end of each of said ilues with said upper manifold. a damper in each of said ports, and means for independently adjusting said dempers. ,b

l5. An apparatus for muilling lithopone, comprising a plurality of vertically disposed retours1 a `flue for heating gases surround ing each of said retorts, a combustion chamber for generating hot gases, a heat equalizing chamber communicating with said combastion chamber, a port connecting the lower end of each of said lues with said heat equalizing chamber, a damper in each of lsaid ports, means for independently adj usting said dampers, a stack connected ucar the upper end of each of said flues. and means for independently controllinler the flow of exhaust gases through said stacks.

16. An apparatus for muflling lithopone, comprising a vertically disposed and externally heated retort, an automatic discharging mechanism o eratively attached to the flower end oflsai retort, a. pipe section depending from the lower part of said mechanism, andi al vertically movable sealing device operatively associated with said pipe section.

17. An apparatus for muflling lithopone, comprising a vertically disposed and externally heated. retort, a b y of cooling liquid positioned beneath the ower end of said retort, and automatic means actuated at periodic intervals for discharging a redetermined quantity of themuilled pro uct from said retort directly into said cooling liquid.

18. An apparatus for muilling lithopone, comprising a plurality of vertically dis posed and externallytf heated retorts, a diS- chargi' g device operatively associated with the loli'er end of each of said retorts, and autom tic means actuated at periodic inter vals ol' operating said devices for discharging a predetermined uantity of the mutllel product from each o said retorts.

19. .An apparatus for mailling lithopone. comprising a vertically disposed and externally heated retort, a body of cooling liquid positioned beneath the lower end of said retort, means for discharging a predetermined quantity of the mullled product from said retort, and vertically movable enclosing means operatively associated with the y lower end of said retort and adapted to project beneath the surface of said liq id for providing a. seal between said rc rt and said li uid. i,

y20. i n apparatus for rnullling lithopone, comprising a vertically dis osed and externally heated retort, a disc urging device associated with the lower end of said retort, automatic means actuated at periodic intervals for `operating said discharging device to discharge a predetermined quantity of the muliled product from said retort, a body of cooling liquid positioned beneath the lower end of said retort, and vertically movable enclosing means operatively associated with said retort below said discharging de vice and adapted to direct the product dis charged from the retort into said body of cooling liquid. 

